The Institute of neurobiology is a research and teaching organization of the University of puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, a minority institution. Its twelve faculty members are engaged in basic research in the neurosciences, and in training students to do so. The present proposal is to apply for the funds to continue and extend the highly successful program that was begun almost three years ago. Funding under MIRDP has made it possible to provide administrative support so badly needed at this institution, thus freeing investigators from some of these duties. It is further affording opportunities for faculty members to develop themselves as fully competitive members of the world scientific community, as well as to be role models to their minority students. The objectives of this proposal are; 1) to provide institutional research development support to enhance the infrastructure that will facilitate development of basic mental health research projects based on cellular and comparative studies of the nervous system, and to offer advanced training and experience for faculty members and students by supporting workshops and an exchange of visits between the Institute and experts from other institutions 2) to provide continuing support for 5 individual investigator research projects which are basic to the institute's goal of developing a critical mass of active investigators conducting research in neuroscience. This will enable not only the development of these research areas, but also the training of minority research assistants at the graduate and undergraduate levels; 3) to give an opportunity to minority undergraduate and graduate research assistants to become involved in an on-going, already funded associate investigator project.